Sun, Nov 9, 2014 - 35K - 04:00:00
35K Berlin Wall Run: 7K Warm-Up, 21K Half Marathon, and 7K Warm-Down
In celebration of the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall today, I took off out of the house at 9:00 AM to be at the Teltow bridge by 10:00 in order to see if I could get a post-registration number to run the Teltow Half Marathon starting at 10:30, a race that makes three loops along the canal where the Berlin Wall separated West Berlin from Brandenburg on the south side of the city from 1961 to 1989. I ran 7K along the canal, arrived at 9:59 and quickly realized that I was not the only person with the idea to run today: there were over 500 people who ran the half marathon and many more who ran the 7K and 14K races which all started at the same time. I filled out the forms, got my number, put the timing strip on my shoe and was at the starting line just in time. I ran a decent race, felt strong for beginning of the training season, got a 02:16:12, not bad for doing a quite steady 7K run just to get to the starting line. This race, however, is more of a race for faster runners in running clubs which explains my less-than-impressive placement: 476th out of 506 runners. When I finished, I drank two warm teas, then took off home down the same canal for a 7K warm-down. So I clocked 35K this weekend, and with Gisi's 8K yesterday, we accomplished another marathon weekend together, nice. 
 
 
new shoes and first run of the season with long running pants: 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
many falling leaves, caught this one in full stride: 
 
 
 
arrived at the half marathon course, three kilometers to go to the starting line: 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
be careful passing: 
 
 
 
 
 
ran up these stairs four times today: 
 
I wasn't the only one with the idea to show up unregistered and get a number before the race: 
 
filled out form, got stamp: 
 
 
 
the finish: 
 
the start: 
 
quadcopter filming overhead: 
 
 
 
 
 
first 7K were packed: 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
painful stairs: 
 
 
 
last lap: 
 
runners thinned out: 
 
after-race tea: 
 
starting line was in no-man's land: 
 
Karl-Heinz Kube, shot dead at Berlin Wall, December 16, 1966: 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
after-run noodle salad: